'Yes,' he said. 'It is easier for us.' He looked at me. 'To learn sign,' hesaid, 'would probably be more useful to you, all things considered, thanlearning a smattering of Dust Leg.'
'Teach me sign,' I asked.
'To be sure,' he said, 'it would be wise for you to learn some Dust Leg orKaiila. There is no substitute for being able to converse with these people intheir own language. Sign, as far as I know, is common to all the tribes of theBarrens.'
'Why are they called Dust Legs?' I asked.
'I do not know,' said Grunt, 'but I think it is because they were the last ofthe major tribes to master the kaiila. Afoot, they were much at the mercy of theothers. Their heritage as traders and diplomats may stem from that period.'
'It is an interesting hypothesis,' I said.
'I can teach you hundreds of signs in a short time,' said Grunt. 'It is a verylimited language, hut in most situations it is quite adequate, and, because manyof the signs seem so appropriate and natural, it can be easily learned. In fouror five days you can learn most of what you would need of sign.'
'I would like to learn something of Dust Leg and Kaiila, and also sign,' I said.
'I will be pleased to help you,' said Grunt.
'Grunt?' I asked.
'Yes,' he said.
'After I came to join you,' I said, 'Corn Stalks didn't stay long.'
'He does not know you,' said Grunt.
I nodded. Goreans, in general, not merely red savages, tend to be wary ofstrangers, in particular those who speak other languages or come from otherterritories or cities. There is only one word in Gorean, incidentally, forstranger and enemy. To be sure, the specific meaning intended is usually clearin the context. Goreans are not unaware that there may exist such things asfamiliar enemies and friendly strangers.
'He did not do trading, as far as I know,' I said.
'No,' said Grunt. 'We talked. He is a friend.'
'What is the sign for a red savage?' I asked.
Grunt rubbed the back of his left hand from the wrist to the knuckle with hisright index finger. 'The general sign for a man is this,' he said. He held hisright hand in front of his chest, the index finger pointing up, and raised it infront of his face. He then repeated the sign for the red savage. 'I am not clearon the specific rationale for the sign for the savage,' he said. 'You will note,however, that the same finger, the index finger, is used in the sign, as in thesign for man. The origins of some of these signs are obscure. Some think thesign for the red savage has a relation to the spreading of war paint. Othersthink that it means a man who goes straight or a man who is close to the earth,to nature. Doubtless there are other explanations, as well. This is the sign forfriend.' He then put his first two fingers together and raised them upward,beside his face. 'It probably means two men growing up together.'
'Interesting,' I said. 'What does this mean?' I put the middle fingers of myright hand on my right thumb, extending the index and little finger. Thissuggests a pointed snout and ears.
'You have seen Dust Legs make that sign,' he said. 'It means a wild sleen. It isalso used for the Sleen tribe. Do you know what this means?' He then spread theindex finger and the second finger of his right hand and drew them from the leftto the right, in front of his body.
'No,' I said.
'That is the sign for a domestic sleen,' he said. 'You see? It is like thespread poles of a travois, which might be drawn by such an animal.'
'Yes!' I said.
'What is this?' he asked, drawing his right index finger across his forehead,from left to right.
'A white man?' I asked.
'Yes,' he said. 'Good.'
'It is like the line of the brim of a hat, across the forehead,' I said.
'Good,' he said, 'And this?' With the fingers of both hands slightly curved, hemade downward motions from the top of his head to the shoulders. It was asthough he were combing hair.
'A woman?' I asked.
'Good,' he said. 'Good. And this?'
'A white woman?' I asked.
'Yes,' he said. He had traced a line with his right index across his forehead,from left to right, and had then opened his hand and moved it downward, towardhis shoulder, in the combing motion. 'What do you think this means?' he asked.
He then made the combing motions with his hand, then lowered his head and lookedat his left wrist, which he grasped firmly in his right hand, the left wrist,the weaker wrist, helpless in the grip of the stronger.
'I am not sure,' I said.
'The second sign indicates bondage,' he said.
'A female slave?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Grunt, 'but, more generally, it is another sign which may stand forany white woman, and is often used in this way.'
'The same sign then,' I said, 'that sign, stands for both white woman and femaleslave? 'Yes,' he said. 'It is the most common way of referring to a white woman. Yousee, in the Barrens, all white women are regarded as being female slaves. Ourfriends of the plains divide white women into those who have already, properly,been imbonded, and those who, improperly, have not yet been imbonded.'
I considered the nature of women, and their desirability. 'That distinctionmakes sense to me,' I said. 'But are there no women of the red savagesthemselves who are slaves?'
'Of course, there are,' said Grunt. 'They are fond of carrying off women of theenemy to make their own slaves. Surely you can imagine how pleasant it is forthese fellows to be served, and as a slave, by one of the enemy's women.'
'Of course,' I said.
'Such a woman may be designated as follows,' he said, 'by use of the sign woman,followed by the sign for the red savages, followed by a bondage sign.'
'I see,' I said. He had illustrated his words with the sign.
'If the context is clear,' he said, 'the signs simply for a female slave may beused.'
'I understand,' I said.
'Here is another way of designating a white woman or a female slave,' he said.
He then made the sign for woman, followed by a downward striking motion, asthough holding a switch. 'Sometimes, too,' he said, 'when the context is clear,this sign alone may be used.' He then spread the first and second fingers of hisright hand arid laid them over the index finger of his left hand. 'You see?' heasked. 'It is ankles bound on a leg stretcher.'
'I see,' I said.
'The meanings in these signs are clear,' he said, 'the weaker who is held by thestronger, she who is subject to the whip, and she whose ankles may be spread ather master's pleasure.'
'Yes,' I said.
'What is this?' asked Grunt. He held his left hand with the palm in, before hischest, and placed the index and second finger of his right hand astride the edgeof his left hand.
'A rider?' I asked.
'Kaiila,' he said. Then, holding his hands as he had, he rotated his hands intiny circles, as though the kaiila were in motion. 'That is to ride,' he said.
'I see,' I said.
'What is this?' he asked. He placed his left fist in front of his mouth andsliced between it and his face with the edge of his opened right hand.
'I do not know,' I said.
'Knife,' be said. 'See? One holds the meat in one's hand and clenches it betweenthe teeth, too. Then one cuts a bite from the meat, to eat it, thus the sign forknife.'
